Algis Kemezys

Thanks for the above links. That in itself saves alot of foot,finger and telephone work.

Scarred I am not Scarred I'm excited !!!

Lady of the Lake

I found the flatter the bottom of the boat the better. If the curvature is to round then the boat tends to really squirm. Shooting from shore near by helps as well for certain footages. I would also get a gyroscope for the camera. This would help immensely.

I think I would wait for the new HD cameras to get really good. Maybe they are ready this year...now! The Sony I saw and the Panasonics I have read about are truely wonderfull moving image capturing devices. Seeing the Light

My Quest for the perfect f/stop value

I agree with Drew, David Mullen seems too selfless and knowledgable,How lucky we are to have such a valuable associate, a true teacher too.... So I am passed impressed with him and more like in awe. The term Coc has eluded me as well with 35 years of still photography under my belt. Those above links et el are wonderfull. One can really sink ones teeth into this digital medium and find plenty of room to explore. I just want to say that almost in all cases using 35mm film results in some area being slightly to rightly out of focus. The wider the lens , the more depth of field. The older 35mm cameras used to have a scale on the barrel showing what you got in focus and what was not. You could then adjust your focus anywhere within that range. You could start focus at the plane of important subject matter and let it go as far behing that point as possible, or place the focus ending at that determined subject matter so everything in the forground has the chance of being in focus. I hope and could only wish to shoot a feature in 35mm.

Example of 28mm on 35mm camera. Neo Crete Sculpture.

Thanks KJ and Drew-town, It's funny how one needs to hear these words of clarity once and awhile when in the thick of things. it seems funny how one can loose the vast perspective one has regarding all other works of art but when dealing with ones one sometimes one can get confused along the way. I like the idea of following ones instinct to an unusual way of doing things as to following the well worn path. Do you think it's necessary to have what is on the screen being described by the narrator ??? I guess it all depends..... like most things.

Any suggestions pertaining to the narration in documentaries ? Does the narration always have to follow what is being seen on the screen? Do you enjoy first person filmmaker speaking or a narrator with a good cadense to his voice ? Do you like just wonderfull visuals supported by occasional comment or what ?

I really wonder what is the big rush is to be DP. It took me many many years developing my visual eye. How does this occur so rapidly ? Without visual practice which means you could be filming just about anything to gain this discerning eye. Maybe people are learning this ability more quickly these days. I think alot of films are sstinkers because there is no finess to the image. A good image is always on the critical edge of exciting regardsless. I am just wondering how much visual preparation is given in film schools today ? Sure you watch films and see lovely styles and techniques but what does one do to make each and everyframe count. I think it is a deeply learned innate sence of the golden formula.1.618

Unless you want to make all your movies look dipped in butterscotch like Woody Allen has in his post-Gordon Willis days. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> This is funny and clever thanx for the reminder !

Hey Thanks you folks for the assistance. In the end the Sanpai Eco Film festival did not have an FTP line. I decided time being less than a week to make deadline to skip it and resubmit nextyear on time. Glad the here about ripping the DVD for easier delivery. It truely is hopping out there or just buzzing right along.

Yes I agree that the second shot has the format and the warm tonality of film.At first glance comparing them the second is much more pleasing with the eye. I think video tends to be cool so I prefer to warm it up myself. Usually post production with the 3way color corrector. It works pretty well. I think a big bad part of DV is that it has too much Depth of Field. I think just working to achieve a softer focused background is what it is all about. The tonality of the film is so important.Deciding right off the top what the tonality is range is going be be. I heard Diane Keaton in one of her films did not allow the color blue and focused on greens and browns. These concerns answered with proper cinematic lighting and thing start looking pretty acceptably like film. I am thinking now that if you shoot the scene 3 ways. Once out of focus to put back in later. One with the actors in a wide shot. Then another in a studio setting to add the out of focus scenes like in CGI processing. So that you can have good 3/4 shots of the actors with the background live and soft focus that would be apropriate to the eye.

When someone asks you to send your DVD over the internet do you just send it? Pop the DVD into the computer and send it out ? I hear I need to use an FTP server ? or get the FTP address ?Any assistance would be appreciated. When I tried to send the DVD with my imac,The computer said, I had both not enough space to hold the DVD for sending and then a box popped up saying the audio track was not included ??? Must I convert the whole DVD to MP4 first or Quicktime before sending ?

Hello There! Neither of these seem to be working.

Heres another question about this area of transfer. My movie shot on NTSC video has been editted and all the sound pretty much put on. Most of it is scratch music, I have yet to get the rights to and the rest is slowly being composed by a professional Composer. My question is Was it correct to do alll the these things, Editting, subtitles, soundtrack and sound effects all in the Final Cut Pro system ? I will be sending this to film festivals first, that just means a DVD but I suppose they will want digibeta for projection. Should I have done the sound mix after the transfer to digibeta using that sandwhiched transfer as my new master ? Maybe the Credits as well ?

So far so good. Good advice everywhere you turn. Lights , Camera......no wait ! Action has to follow after one has done a good location check. A pre location scouting will yield lots of helpfull information prior to shooting. If time is tight go to the site an hour early to scout around. Even driving in to the location is scouting. If you see something within 5 to 10 minutes that might lend itself to the subject matter..Note it. So for me finding the best place to seat the subject is half the fun. Esp if you can 3 shot it. Good >Wide, Medium and Tight shots that change the details as you close in. I think I prefer a Lavaliere Mic. Listening is important as mentioned but it frees up the camera to move around if you do that kind of thing. With the Lav Mic one can jump big distances without worring about the sound fall off or the ambient sound might become a problem. I think in most cases with Lav Mic the background sound in never totally diminished.

Thanks for posting this. With this handbook you cannot go wrong.

HeLLO ! Thank you all for answering. I guess while celebrating my birthday I sounded a bit over zealous. I think you all made great points. True it's fantastic being a collaborator ans interpreter to a good story and director.Truely thats what it is all about. Maybe Cinematographer is a Documentary... I guess I just like cinematographers who went on to be great film makers Like Lean and Kubrick. I have actually found obsticles or perameters set by the Director can make you invent wonderfull new things that you on your own never would produce. That is truely one of the best feelings.And I have really scored with that.

I can't see the clip but it too sounds anamorphic. I have noticed with MINIDV a whole new set of lens flares occur that are not present with 35 or 16mm films. Lens flares are usefull for they give us a kind of reflective point that takes us back into ourselves. I would theorize the following. In Photoshop you alter the flares of one or 3 images and process it with a distortion filter. Use this as a enhancing agent over the original footage, streched to fit the clip.Today I believe you can run that clip through a special effect generator that makes an altered still image live for placing where ever you want it. LiveType is the one program I have but there are others.

In your favorite slightly oversized shoe/boots: occasionally I use thick felt inserts but now I am double Jelling it with the Current Inserts so widely availible.

Hello There ! FB. I think everyone has made alot of good points. I think what I am getting is that the music video stuff plus the steadycam paints you in another picture. Your compositions are good and fresh.Maybe there are too many quick cuts.I think people enjoy great slightly longer takes. Theres a Greek, Angeolopolis or something similar who pride them selves on great long takes. I think you could handle just about anything. I think I would cut the music into a different reel for Music Mavens.

I think it's the leading man or lady walking through the picturesqe streets.

For me the films of David Lean come first. Then some of the eearly Clint Eastwood Classics. The first film I ever saw was The Good Bad and the Ugly. My father called me blondie after that. Merchant Ivory films are also a must.